What's news: Paramount+ preps major movie push, Fox touts digital investments, why so many Hollywood execs saw pay rise even in a pandemic year, Toby Emmerich floated for a new job, why English-language film remakes like Another Round are a tricky proposition, potential ArcLight suitors emerge. Plus: How rage coaches are working to help solve Hollywood's bully problem, Twitter and Snapchat make their pitch to marketers. --Alex Weprin
ViacomCBS and Fox Tout Digital Deals
►ViacomCBS wants Paramount+ to be bigger than Netflix when it comes to movies. In June, the company will add 1,000 movies to the streaming service's library, and launch a "mountain of movies" ad campaign. Next year, the company intends to have at least one new movie a week on the service, matching Netflix.
-- Meanwhile, Infinite, a sci-fi thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor and directed by Antoine Fuqua for the conglomerate’s Paramount Pictures, will bypass a theatrical release and debut directly on the streamer in the U.S. in June, CEO Bob Bakish announced on Thursday’s ViacomCBS earnings conference call. The story.
+ViacomCBS added 6 million global streaming subscribers in its first quarter, “driven by” the rebranded Paramount+ service, to reach 36 million global paid streaming users, the entertainment company said on Thursday. For Paramount+, “the biggest drivers of sign-ups were live sports and specials, including the Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, UEFA Champions League, Oprah With Meghan and Harry and The Grammy Awards, as well as kids’ content, including programming from the SpongeBob universe and iCarly, and original programming, including The Stand and Star Trek: Discovery,” ViacomCBS said.
--ViacomCBS also posted a first-quarter advertising revenue gain of 21 percent, excluding streaming, to $2.68 billion on Thursday as it changed the metrics it reports. It also detailed its affiliate revenue and streaming revenue, which had previously been included in ad and affiliate figures. Affiliate revenue grew 5 percent in the latest quarter to $2.08 billion, while streaming revenue rose 65 percent to $816 million. Total quarterly revenue grew 14 percent to $7.41 billion. The story.
+Fox Corp. beat Wall Street expectations Wednesday, delivering revenues of more than $3.2 billion. That was down from $3.44 billion a year earlier, when the company aired a Super Bowl. The company also detailed some of its digital expansion plans. For starters, the company acquired Outkick, the sports site founded by former Fox Sports host Clay Travis. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Travis will continue to serve as Outkick’s president.
--In addition, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said that the company will be “deeply integrating” Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service, into its upfront negotiations with advertisers. The company is also partnering with distribution partners to add live local news to Tubi. The story.
►Why many of Hollywood's top execs saw pay rise during a pandemic year. “We saw CEO pay at the largest U.S. companies decline slightly, by 1.6 percent, in 2020,” explains Amit Batish, director of content at data firm Equilar. “During the pandemic most executives took pay reductions in the form of salary and bonus cuts,” which allowed firms to “conserve immediate cash.” But “long-term stock awards remained intact for the most part.”
--That’s why well-publicized temporary salary sacrifices early in the pandemic — from the likes of Live Nation chief Michael Rapino, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Endeavor mogul Ari Emanuel, among others — didn’t leave these leaders with depleted compensation packages, given a vast majority of their packages comes from nonsalary sources. Plus, “executive compensation for big media execs has historically, and curiously, ranked on the relatively high side versus peers in many other sectors,” CFRA Research analyst Tuna Amobi notes. The story.
Toby Emmerich Floated For a New Job
►With 18 months left on his contract, is Warners film studio chairman Toby Emmerich exploring job opportunities? While it is far from clear that Emmerich will leave the studio after more than 20 years, sources tell THR's Kim Masters that David Geffen in recent weeks placed a call to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos to inquire whether there might be a possible role for Emmerich at Netflix.
--"Emmerich was rumored to be departing in December; instead, he was given full control of films not only for theaters but also for HBO Max. Hits during his tenure as a top executive include Wonder Woman, Crazy Rich Asians and A Star Is Born. Misses include 2019 films The Goldfinch and The Kitchen. The exec was named president of the film studio in 2018 and promoted to chairman the following year. Emmerich’s contract was last renewed in October 2019 and runs through the end of 2022." The story.
+Meanwhile: Craig Hunegs is leaving Disney. The president of entertainment at Walt Disney Television has opted to leave the conglomerate after two years with the company. Sources say the Warner Bros. TV alum will pursue new opportunities after seeing his role significantly changed over the past year as Disney reorganized its executive ranks to streamline content groups in a bid to prioritize streaming. Hunegs will remain with Disney through the end of the upfronts-heavy month. Walt Disney TV entertainment chairman Dana Walden — who announced the news in a memo to staff Wednesday — is expected to name a replacement for Hunegs in the coming months. More.
►Why English-language film remakes like Another Round are a tricky proposition. As international cinema expands its reach in the streaming age, movie fans are becoming more sensitive to issues of cultural appropriation, Scott Roxborough writes.
--Art house films can be challenging to adapt because they often bear the signature of their director, and that can be difficult to transport [into another culture],” notes Martin Moszkowicz, executive chairman of German mini-major Constantin Film, which has scored hits with locallanguage versions of mainstream Italian and French comedies. “True cinematic art is very difficult to adapt.” The story.
►Potential suitors for ArcLight and the Cinerama Dome are beginning to line up. On Wednesday, Marcus Theatres CEO Greg Marcus told investors that some of the sites, ArcLight Hollywood, the Pacific Grove Theatre are too productive to stay dark. Other companies haven’t commented publicly, but insiders tell THR that players like Imax or Cinemark could potentially strike a deal with Decurion to keep some of the locations up and running, not to mention other chains akin to Marcus. The story.
In other film news...
+Blake Lively and Diablo Cody have teamed up to adapt Lady Killer, a feature adaptation of a comic book from Dark Horse Comics. Lively will star and produce while Cody will write the project, which hails from Dark Horse Entertainment, the company behind the mega-popular Umbrella Academy series. More.
+Also: After diving into the world of sci-fi with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, actor John David Washington is ready for more. Washington will star in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards’ upcoming sci-fi movie True Love for New Regency. More.
+And: German mini-major Leonine Studios have signed a three-picture deal with Lionsgate, taking all rights in Germany and Austria for Eli Roth’s hotly-anticipated video game adaptation Borderlands, the family-friendly drama White Bird: A Wonder Story from Finding Neverland helmer Marc Forster, and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, a meta action-comedy starring Nicolas Cage as…Nicolas Cage. More.
Bye Bye Bullies?
►How rage coaches are helping Hollywood take on powerful jerks.Companies are increasingly turning to career advisers who specialize in curtailing workplace bullies, Rebecca Keegan reports.
--“Bullies used to be OK in Hollywood,” says Carole Kirschner, who runs the WGA’s showrunner training program and is often charged with teaching writers who have never been managers how to run a writers room. “The sun is setting on them. It’s long overdue, and I don’t think we’re going to go backward.” The story.
►Twitter is growing its slate of original content deals, unveiling new and expanded partnerships with NBCUniversal, Billboard, MLB and the NHL, among others. NBC Olympics will create original live video shows for Twitter, including Talkin’ Tokyo, which will count Adam Rippon among its hosts. The company also announced a new real-time Billboard chart, “The Billboard Hot Trending powered by Twitter.” The chart will track music-related trends and he songs being discussed on the platform. More.
+Snapchat's Newfront slate: Snapchat is leaning into its stable of creators for its latest slate of Snapchat Originals. Among the new offerings are a show hosted by Megan Thee Stallion called Off Thee Leash, which will see the singer connect with her celebrity friends and their pets, and Charli vs. Dixie, which will see Charli and Dixie D’Amelio face off in challenges. Both shows are being produced by Will Smith’s Westbrook Media. The full slate.
►California Democrats voted to formally boycott the Chateau Marmont at the state party’s annual convention on May 2. The move comes as the famed L.A. hotel, which has spent the past year responding to accusations of worker mistreatment — including systemic racial discrimination and pervasive sexual harassment, as well as unjust labor practices following the onset of the pandemic — faces increasing ostracization from a key demographic: celebrities, who have signed a blackballing pledge. The story.
►Sydney Pollack's lawyer may face trial over Aretha Franklin concert film. As everyone knows, lawyers are supposed to represent their clients zealously. Sometimes, there’s even bluffing involved. But can an attorney get into legal trouble for voicing a foolish legal theory in a threatening letter without any real intention of testing it in court? The story.
►Filmmaker Raoul Peck on Hollywood’s race reckoning: “We can keep denying reality or we can act upon it.” Half measures by decisionmakers in the entertainment industry won’t cut it — real money needs to be put into establishing a pipeline that nurtures BIPOC executive talent and projects, the filmmaker writes. The guest column.
Casting roundup: Successionhas addedAdrien Brody as the latest recurring guest star for its forthcoming season... Hannah John-Kamen, who starred as a villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp and was a lead in series Brave New World, will star in Millennium’s long-gestating sword and sorcery feature Red Sonja... Chris Lowellhas joined the cast of My Best Friend’s Exorcism...
In other news...
--New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that Broadway will be back in business on Sept. 14. Tickets go on sale tomorrow for Broadway shows and theaters will be open at 100 percent capacity once they reopen.
--Winners of major awards, including Oscars, BAFTAs, Grammys, Golden Globes, Tony Awards and Nobel Prizes, will be able to live and work in the U.K. more easily under reforms by Britain’s Home Office to fast-track visa applications.
--Jessica Alba's The Honest Company went public on Wednesday, netting the Hollywood star a $130 million stake.
--Greg Hall, a costumer who worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger on 11 films, dressing the actor as the leather-clad cyborg in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and as the evil Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin, has died. He was 67.
--Netflix on Thursday debuted the second teaser for the upcoming fourth season of the 1980s-set sci-fi hit Stranger Things with a chilling minute-long video that doesn’t bode well for Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).
--"Chris Ruddy and Newsmax went all-in on Trump. Now they might pay a price for it" [Washington Post]
--"iHeartMedia's new PMP is just for podcasts, and the scale is there" [AdExchanger]
Today's birthdays: George Clooney, 60, Willie Mays, 90, Bob Seger, 76, Gabourey Sidibe, 38, Meek Mill, 34.
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